Nokia Lumia 920 Review

If there were one device that the tech world is focused on for measuring Windows Phone success, it would be the Nokia Lumia 920 (available now on AT&T; $99). It is considered by many to be the “flagship” phone (a term we find to be ill defined) for the platform and as such it has a lot riding on it.

We’ve had the AT&T Nokia Lumia 920 for well over 10 days now so we figured we would finally share our thoughts. The reason for the delay? Simply put, the device was not available to most of you and we happen to believe in spending more than 48 hours with a phone before deciding on the pros and cons. Some reviews, in our opinion, have glossed over some issues, others have missed new developments and most have focused on just a few aspects e.g. the size issue.

The too long, didn’t read it version? We like the Lumia 920 a lot and it is easily the best Windows Phone to date. It’s perhaps not for everyone but Nokia have done a great job.

Wireless charging, NFC, Super Sensitive Touch display. Greatly improves upon the Lumia 900, bringing top of the line hardware, gorgeous design and a formidable camera. Easily the best Windows Phone to date. It's also a steal at $99 on AT&T.

The PureView camera underperforms during the day, resulting in soft photos with muted colors. Phone may be too big for some but the weight issue is overstated. Limited carrier availability.

The Lumia 920 is the pinnacle of Nokia engineering. It has great build quality, filled with the latest technology and it also looks really good while doing it. We found nary any issues with the hardware and if you’re comfortable with Windows Phone 8, this phone is your best option…if you want the best. The PureView camera, while not perfect, gives outstanding night photos and shoots the best video of any phone on the market today. The plethora of Nokia software like GPS navigation only sweetens the deal.

The Hardware

The Nokia Lumia 920 has some of the most top of the line features for Windows Phone 8. Although there are still minimum chassis requirements for the OS, most hardware manufactures have great leeway with this latest version.

The Lumia 920 does not disappoint as it comes in with a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 CPU, 1GB of RAM, 32GB of onboard storage (27+GB available on boot), NFC, Bluetooth 3.0, WiFi and a quite larger 4.5” IPS display. In addition, it features wireless charging and Nokia’s 8.7MP PureView rear camera.

The Display

Coming in at 4.5”, the Lumia 920 has one of the largest displays for a Windows Phone 8 device, only bested by the yet-to-be-released Samsung ATIV S. It also features Nokia’s ClearBlack display technology (basically dual polarizers to reduce glare and make the colors sharper), Super Sensitive Touch display and Corning’s Gorilla Glass. Basically, Nokia packed as much tech into the display as possible except for an oleophobic layer to reduce smudging from greasy hands.

This combo of high-end technology works out well for the phone. Users can wear gloves in the winter and operate the display (a first for modern smartphones) get a boost in brightness when out in the sunlight, great scratch resistance and have vibrant, accurate colors.

One area where we are a little disappointed in is the lack of AMOLED display. Nokia opted to go with IPS instead, which provides excellent viewing angles but lacks a bit in one area: deep blacks. Here we’re comparing it to the Lumia 900 (see our review), which did have an AMOLED screen. On that phone, the difference between the black background of the OS and the black bezel of the phone was indistinguishable. But on the 920, the blacks have a lighter look to them allowing you to see the bezel versus display.

We’re nitpicking here though as the 920’s display is one of the better ones we have used and the lack of PenTile Matrix for many is a welcomed addition (however, we would not have minded an HD Super AMOLED with traditional RGB matrix). The auto-brightness is tuned very well and adjusts to the ambient light appropriately. This may seem odd to point out but many companies get this wrong—too bright when in a dim room, too dim when outside.

The Super Sensitive Touch technology, developed by Synaptics, works well enough and assuming that Nokia can market the advancement, could be a great selling point. Should one be worried about the display being too sensitive, you can quickly disable the feature in settings. The technology mimics yester-year’s resistive displays (where you had to press to get a response) with the more modern capacitive screen. As a result, you can use the display with gloves or even objects and we have to admit it’s very cool.

Finally, the Gorilla Glass is a curved, allowing the display to taper off on the edges. The result is a much better tactile feel when using the device as your thumb glides off the phone. To conclude: the display on the Lumia 920 is admirable and arguably one of the best around.

The body

Like its predecessor, the Lumia 920 uses a polycarbonate shell. It also comes in numerous colors such as grey, black, cyan, white, yellow and red with the latter three being “glossy” and the former “matte”. This time around, Nokia has wisely curved the back of the phone, which gives a much nicer feel to it when being held. The device is smooth where it needs to be and easily feels high quality. No creaking, no loose parts. Likewise, the buttons have gone from silver to a dark-metal ceramic which promises to not scratch as easily. This was a particular problem for the chrome bezel around the Lumia 800 and 900 and we can say that from our experience, that problem has been eliminated completely. Button had excellent tactile feel (much more so than the HTC 8X0 and travel of the button in our opinion is perfect.

Even the SIM tray near the top aligns more straight on the 920 with no-give like it had on the 900.

What can we say? Nokia has taken the Lumia 800 and 900 and evolved it to perfection on the 920. It’s solid as a rock, granted a slipper rock. That’s probably the only downside we can think of is that device is a tad slippery, mostly because it’s smooth and dense. We’re not calling it a complaint though—it’s like calling a Ferrari too nice. Sure, you can say that but you sound ridiculous. Besides from our experience if you do drop the Lumia 920, the only thing you should check is that you didn’t crush and small animals or crack the floor. Which brings us to…

He's not heavy, he's my phone

If there was one constant complaint we have come across about the Lumia 920 it is in regards to its size and weight. Every review has mentioned it with some calling it a “tank” or even a “brick”. In fairness, most have also said such things with positive aspects, only noting the difference when compared to other phones. So, what’s the deal?

The Lumia 920 weighs in at 185 grams. In comparison to the new “super thin” iPhone 5, that’s about 73 grams heavier. That sounds heavy though, right? Well, yes and no. As a popular image post on Reddit (made by Victor P.) has pointed out, if you added 2 slices of deli turkey to the iPhone 5, it’d weigh nearly the same as a Lumia 920.

The reality of the situation is yes by comparison the Lumia 920 is a big, solid phone and weighs the most. But the phone in our opinion is not prohibitively heavy, meaning most of you will walk into an AT&T store, pick up the device and say “Really? That’s what everyone is talking about?”.

That’s because the Lumia 920 doesn’t feel like it has wasted weight. It has 32GB of storage, a massive 2000 mAh battery, wireless charging coil, high-end camera with optical image stabilization (OIS), NFC and more all in a solid body. Instead, when you pick it up you it feels like quality, that it is something substantial.

This is not to say everyone will be happy with the size and weight. Heck, people were complaining that the iPhone 5 is too light, so it makes sense that others will go in the opposite direction with this phone. People who don’t want or don’t prefer a 4.5” display, those with smaller statures or who don’t like feeling their phone in their pocket may be dissuaded from the 920. In a way, that’s a shame as something like young kids, women and large dudes, use the iPhone 5. We don’t think the same will apply for the Lumia 920, thereby limiting some of its audience.

From our personal use, we had no complaints with the phone’s weight and size. Yes, it is larger than most phones out there but in our opinion, not freakishly so. Our recommendation: if you are really hesitant, just walk into Best Buy or AT&T and try it out yourself and use that 14-day window.

We would not complain if the Lumia 920 was thinner (and slightly lighter), don’t be silly. But its size is not playing into our decision on whether or not to use it everyday. The other aspects of the phone more than outweigh the size issue, forgive the pun. But in our opinion, the 920's weight is a non-issue and way overblown.

Under the hood

As we mentioned, the Lumia 920 is powered by a dual-core 1.5GHz CPU with 1GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage (no expansion). Besides the storage issue, the 920 is run of the mill for high-end Windows Phone 8 devices and that’s a good thing. That Snapdragon S4 processor is super fast, pushing the OS to a comfortable pace and allowing very quick app and game launches.

Does it get warm? Yes, it can. Not always but if that radio is straining to find a signal, or you’re downloading a lot or you’re playing an intense game you may feel the back of the device (near the top) warm up a bit. It’s actually surprising seeing as the Lumia 900 did not do this but seeing as this has two cores, is clocked higher with a faster GPU it’s not unheard of either.

In our opinion, 32GB of storage, even if can’t be expanded, is more than adequate for most users. On first boot you’ll “only” have 29GB of space. With a lot of apps coming in under 5MB, storage won’t be a problem.

Reception on the phone was excellent with no dropped calls and a strong, reliable signal. Likewise, 4G LTE (where available) was blazing fast with no more bottlenecks coming from neither the hardware nor OS.

The speakers are placed on the bottom of the device, which has the benefit of not being blocked when placed backside down (unlike the HTC 8X). There are two speakers on the bottom and for music and games, it can crank quite loudly though for speakerphone it is just so-so. One downside to having the speakers on the bottom though is when playing a game and holding the device horizontally, you may block the speakers. But it’s not too bad since there are two areas for the sound to leave the device.

Battery life on the phone is decent. It won’t set any records nor will it send you running for a charger every few hours. The Snapdragon S4 is said to be very nimble with the battery (here at 2000 mAh) and so far from our experience this is accurate. After 8 hours of heavy usage—a few phone calls, lots of photos, 30 minutes of a gaming, push services—we’re at 54% with a whopping 18 hours of estimated battery left. In short, no complaints and we think Nokia got the right balance here.

Even if you don’t find the battery adequate, the wireless charging pad (and other accessories) makes getting a quick charge out of the phone effortless. By just tossing the phone down on the pad (free for AT&T users), the device starts to trickle charge away. While it is not as fast as straight USB (we’d put it about 75% efficacy by comparison), it is more than enough to get a quick boost to the device.

The wireless charging pad really does make re-powering the battery a breeze, though we couldn’t help but wish there were some alignment magnets similar to those found on some webOS devices (allowing a more secure “click” when placing on the pad).

Conclusion: wireless charging is not a gimmick. It really is preferred.

The PureView Camera

A lot has been made about the 8.7MP PureView camera on the Lumia 920. Here, Nokia concentrated on low-light performance in comparison to the over-sampling of the massive 41MP sensor found in the PureView 808. PureView, after all, is a set of technologies for Nokia and not a single device or even a camera. So how does the Lumia 920 measure up?

Low-light performance is nothing short of astounding. We’ve taken photos in our backyard at night, in bars, restaurants and from our hotel window. Every time we were shocked at the resulting bright image. We saw things in the pictures we could barely see with our own eyes, which recall our experience with more high-end cameras like our new Samsung EX2F and Nikon DSLR.

The secret is a combination of various technologies including a backside illuminated sensor (BSI), optical image stabilization (OIS), decent sized sensor and Nokia software “tricks”. BSI sensors let more light in from the lens, making scenes more bright; OIS helps steady the camera by having “springs” around the housing allowing you to take longer exposures and Nokia is doing some ingenious software tweaking to give some highly impressive pics.

But let’s be clear: the Lumia 920 camera does have a few downsides, though nothing we see as game ending. Let us explain.

Daylight shots look just “ok” on the 920. By that we mean the photos come out but they tend to be soft. The reason for this, as far as we can tell, is Nokia is not applying any type of sharpening to the images during the JPEG processing. When compared to the HTC 8X and iPhone 5 we consistently found the 920 to under-perform.

Don’t get us wrong the Lumia 920 still does well especially for light balance. But the images are soft and it does bother us. The good news is two fold: (1) You can always add sharpening after the photo using software like Thumba or the excellent Nokia Creative Studio and (2) Nokia can easily tweak this in a firmware update.

To be fair, number one is not ideal. To ask people to buy and use post-processing software is a bit of a copout on our end, though it is a viable option. And Creative Studio by Nokia is a well made app. Number 2 is also a bit of a downer as people buy the phone for what it is, not what it may be.

Nokia has publicly acknowledge that the Lumia 920 does not perform as well during the day as they would like and they have said an update will tweak things to make the photos better. People who bought the Lumia 900 know this very well as that camera went from sub-par to very good with one solid firmware update. While the Lumia 920 does not have deficiencies nearly as bad as the 900 had on launch, it is safe to say that Nokia will optimize the camera in short order. As we mentioned, we actually think this should be an easy fix as fine-tuning JPG algorithms is common practice for camera companies.

That brings us to another unique complaint: options.

On a lot of Windows Phones, users can control things like metering, saturation and sharpness via the Settings option. Ironically, the super advanced PureView camera on the 920 has none of these settings.

You do have ISO, white balance, image size (only 16:9 or 4:3), exposure value and Scenes but nothing else. That’s a shame as typically we would just tell people to bump sharpness to something higher and in this case, also increase saturation (images are perhaps a bit too neutral in color). But users cannot do that on the Lumia 920 and “auto correct” only tends to fix brightness.

We think that’s because Nokia wants you to trust their algorithms more than you fiddling with settings but here we think they may have erred a bit—images are soft and color is a bit bland. As previously mentioned, both areas can be compensated for by using third-party software but that is far from ideal.

A bit soft and washed out in color

Some people have asked about the Focus Assist Light (commonly called AF lamp on cameras). By default the Lumia 920 shines a light on the object before a photo is taken, regardless of the flash settings. This is to give more light to the camera, which can then properly focus on the intended object. While very useful there are plenty of situations where one would not like to have that one e.g. plays or anywhere where one is trying to be inconspicuous. That feature is easily disabled by going into Settings and tapping it off and yes, even in low light and no Focus Assist Lamp the Lumia 920 still performs well.

And video? It’s outstanding. The image stabilization is unlike any other phone today on the market. Video is truly more consistent with that subtle shaking completely eliminated. Even low light performance, while not as impressive as still photos, is more than ideal. Really we have nothing bad to say here outside of the fact it does very well (though do note that by default, the 920 uses 720P meaning you’ll have to switch to 1080P if you prefer that resolution).

The Lumia 920 at night

In conclusion, the Lumia 920 has an excellent camera—one of the top found on any phone today, especially in low-light situations where other cameras easily fall short. Ironically it is during “normal” situations (e.g. well lit) where the Lumia 920 becomes simply mediocre. It’s not bad just not as impressive. The good news here is this appears to not be a fatal flaw of hardware but rather a lack of attention to post-JPG processing.

If Nokia simply bumps default sharpening and saturation slightly, the 920’s camera will become an all-around powerhouse. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until Nokia pushes out an update to optimize the hardware for this change. That being said we would not in the slightest give it up for any other camera out there.

Accessories

The Lumia 920 has a limited stock of accessories though Nokia and JBL have made a few that are highly specialized. Things like the JBL PowerUp speaker features NFC pairing, wireless BT streaming and wireless charging. Folks on AT&T get a free wireless charging pad, which we found to be an excellent addition. There’s also a wireless charging stand for your bedside and Purity Pro headphones. None of those items are cheap but they are high quality.

For more information on accessories like cases, screen protectors and more, head to the Windows Phone Central Store for the Lumia 920. We’ll be adding stock of new items as soon as they become available on the market. We’ll of course be reviewing as many Lumia 920-specific accessories as we can, so make sure to check in regularly.

The Software

We’re not going to delve too deep into the Windows Phone 8 OS here. For that you can check our full OS review and overview here for more information. Obviously Microsoft prevents their hardware partners from modifying the OS is any significant way and although Nokia technically could do so, they have not. There are still a few areas that we can talk about.

Stability – Although the firmware we were running (1242) and OS (89903) technically are not finalized, we had no significant issues with stability or crashes. Our device did not reset, signal strength remained strong and basically we did not have any complaints

Customizations – We already covered what additions to the OS Nokia have made in our previous video, which can be seen here. Nokia has added the ability to disable the Super Sensitive Touch, Dolby Headphone and a Graphic EQ for sound—all good stuff

New Lenses for Windows Phone 8 and the Lumia 920

In addition to the above, Nokia has embraced “Lenses” for Windows Phone 8, which can be thought of as mini-camera apps. Here they have Cinemagraph, Panorama and Smart Shoot.

Cinemagraph takes a series of photos and makes animated GIFs, which can be uploaded to Skydrive or shared with Email. The GIFs can be larger, often hovering around 10MB. While they certainly look good (see our examples on the web version of this review), the fact that you can’t see them in action on Facebook, Imgur or Photobucket limits their usage. That’s not Nokia’s fault exactly—FB doesn’t support animated GIFs and Imgur and Photobucket have size limits—but it is something to consider when asking how people will view them. You can see them on Skydrive after sharing the link but only if you hit “view original”, something we’re not sure if most people will do. Having said that, Cinemagraph is darn cool.

Panorama is Nokia’s panoramic Lens for their Lumia line. You take a photo and a neat little guide will direct you to the second shot and then to the third, etc. So long as you pan slowly the app works very well.

Smart Shoot operates in a similar fashion to Cinemagraph by taking a series of photos. But instead of stitching them together like a mini movie, you can go through and “erase” any errant objects, people walking in the background, etc. It’s a niche app, much like Cinemagraph but it works well.

Nokia Drive…Music…City Lens…Maps…Transit...

If there is one other serious reason to consider the Lumia 920, it has to be the apps. Nokia has created a whole ecosystem of super useful tools that greatly expand upon the value of their Lumia line.

Nokia Drive+ Beta, which we’ve detailed before, is an all-in-one GPS navigation system that works with Nokia Maps. It allows offline navigation by downloading whole maps for states, greatly speeding up the experience (for reference, all of New York was only 153 MB). Those offline maps are shared between Maps and Drive+ too, reducing redundancy. While Nokia Drive started off as an “ok” navigation solution months ago, this latest version is quite amazing. Between the voice packages, accuracy, 2D and 3D views, smoothness and integration with the OS, it is a monstrous value for those of you who commute. Whatever features it may lack, Nokia is constantly improving it with frequent updates. And considering it is 100% free, you have to include it as a top ten reason to get the Lumia 920.

Nokia Music allows you to download a few hours worth of music playlists, an incredible value even if you already have Xbox Music.

City Lens is Nokia’s augmented reality app—also a Lens now in Windows Phone 8. You simply hold your phone up in public and it will show you where food, bars, attractions, etc. can be found. It’s a neat app and works well enough though we do find it a bit gimmicky at times. Your mileage may vary though we’d rather have it and not use it then to not have the option.

Nokia Transit is yet another location tool that helps you get from one place to another using public transportation. Whether trains, buses or subway the app is quite handy when you’re in a new city.

In short, Nokia’s apps including their increasingly growing selection of exclusive games, all of which can be found in the Nokia Collection, are a huge value for the phone.

Wrapping it up

Enough with the review formalities: if you’re here there’s a good chance you’re already a Windows Phone user. Maybe even one who owns a Lumia. So you may be wondering what is my personal opinion of the Lumia 920?

Quite frankly, I’m thrilled with it and yes I consider it better than the HTC 8X (even though I adore that phone too).

Nokia has in my opinion taken all the best aspects of the Lumia 800 and 900 and improved upon it greatly with the Lumia 920. The device is better built, feels nicer in the hand and packs a punch in terms of raw specs. Throw in that low-light camera ability, fantastic video-capture, the super smooth and clear display and I am sold.

A lot of people when first holding it may quip, “It’s a brick” but soon after they immediately notice how right it feels, commenting on the craftsmanship. On paper and when compared to other phones, the Lumia 920 does appear to have some extra mass. But when you actually hold and use it, it’s the last thing on your mind. Having said that some people just don’t want a large display and prefer 4.3” or even 4” devices. Fair enough and that is why you should go to the store to try one out first.

As a hobbyist photographer, the 920’s camera is very impressive. But as I note, Nokia can improve the daylight performance especially when it comes to sharpness. I firmly believe they will get this right with a firmware update so I’m quite okay to settle for the softer images for now. Why? Because I mostly shoot at night anyway and there the Lumia 920 is unmatched.

Whether it’s the excellent sound quality, the extremely useful wireless charging or that curved display, the Lumia 920 is a powerhouse of a phone. As a fan of the Windows Phone operating system, I do consider this to be the best offering for 2012 and the near future. For the price on contract with AT&T ($99), it’s a huge value for what you are getting. And even compared to the iPhone 5 and whatever Android is floating this week, the phone certainly holds it own.

In using the phone for the last 10 days I have had not one serious complaint—no bugs, no issues and no quality problems with the hardware. Others may find some and we’ll be paying close attention to what users are experiencing, but Nokia looks to have done right with this phone.

For all of these reasons, we enthusiastically recommend the Nokia Lumia 920.

Reader comments

Nokia Lumia 920 Review

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BTW Josh Topolsky is very complimetary about Windows Phone.
So much, Steve Ballmer quoted Josh Topolsky at the recent BUILD conference.
I quote: "Who would have thought that in 2012 Microsoft would be the company with the boldest phone and software design?" : Josh Topolsky from the Verge via Twitter

Just got my red 920 today. Loving the phone, but had one question for others that got a 920: my windows button has a yellow tint to it while the back and search buttons glow the normal white. Has anyone else seen this?

Daniel (or others) does the front bezel stick out on the 920 like it does on the 900? I hate that about the 900 as it digs into my ear when talking. Also hearing complaints about the vibration again like the 900. Has that been remedied (sounds like no)?

Wow youre a dumbass really -_-
htc 8x = nokia 820 dude
there's no way you can compare it to the 920
Well also to answer your question
let me see
1.Cool nokia Apps
2.Better Support
3.Btter Phone construction
4.More features and hardware are in Lumia 920
So there it is if you still gona buy a 8x then you a ihtc fanboy

Wow youre a dumbass really -_-
htc 8x = nokia 820 dude
there's no way you can compare it to the 920
Well also to answer your question
let me see
1.Cool nokia Apps
2.Better Support
3.Btter Phone construction
4.More features and hardware are in Lumia 920
So there it is if you still gona buy a 8x then you a ihtc fanboy

This "super advanced PureView camera " also lacks one important feature: HDR mode. And this is really useful feature. I really can't get it why Nokia hasn't included it in a device they advertise as a camera monster. OS limitations?

Thank you for the great review Daniel!
I am curious if there is anyway you can contact Stephen Elop direct and ask why ATT stores have so few 920 phones on launching day... can't sell millions of phones with limited supply...

Two questions
1you said two loudspeakers at the bottom. Isnt it one speaker and one mic?
2 the white balance in video seemed jumpy and inconsistent. Where you in auto or outdoors mode on wb setting. If auto that needs to be adressed together with the soft images.
Other than that excellent review.
I am getting one when they fix wb and photo softness for sure :)

Don't know about the number of loudspeakers, but a quick test with my handy Acoustic Bio-Attenuator (aka my left thumb) shows that each of the two sets of holes drilled in the bottom output about the same amount of sound.

why dont you buy a new lumia at a store without contract, and then put your sim card from your old phone to the new? I never buy phones with a contract. I have the same contract for many years, because it fits my needs, and if I want a new phone I buy it and just change the sim cards :-)

My thoughts exactly. Why would this phone be considered the "flagship" when it's only available on one carrier? Having great specs is only one part of the equation to having a flagship device. It needs to be available on multiple carriers to truly be the flagship phone.

Now THIS is how you review a phone. Not like Engadget where they are enraged that the Lumia 920 is more innovative than their precious iphone. Thus they constantly complain about the size and weight because they need to nitpick at something...
great review guys!

Engadget (and some others) really dislike the lack of google integration and heavily rely on google services. It's a little silly when reviewers talk about how the phone fits into THEIR work or THEIR life, the review is not for them, it's for others. I know they can't talk about how it works for others, but remaining objective and not scoring things down (or up) on personal preferences that may not apply to everyone. Myriam was gushing over the Nexus 4, it's not a better phone than the 920, but it's Android, so in her mind it's better. Engadget really changed their tune from their time in Finland to their review unit. She seems to hate Apple too, and is pretty obvious about it. She's an obvious fandroid, kinda ruins here credibility.

I was excited about this phone at the beginning - but when I saw the weight I said to myself 'no way'. Sure, it may be comfortable to put it in your jeans' pocket but anything else would bring an uncomfortable feeling I guess, judging by the fact that using an iphone 4 in my jacket's inner pocket makes it awkward already.

FWIW, from the image as it looks on my computer screen, I think it doesn't look "washed out and soft". I think it looks pretty natural. Obviously I haven't seen the original scene. I think the phones sometimes make reality look "jazzed up" and "hyper". So the photo looks GOOD to me. I would just hope that one could change the settings to make it look the way you want. Or else, as you said, you could post process it.
What about focusing? Does it do facial recognition and allow you to pick something to focus on? Or does it just do something like "center" focus. I would like MORE camera control over these things and not less. Let it default to auto everything, but let me change things if I want.

That was a very nice read!
I have one question though. In my country almost everyone uses whatsapp. Whatapp on WP7.5 is just so so, how is whatsapp doing on WP8?
There was also a Nokia exclusive Whatsapp announced with 'panorama mode'. What about that? Is it released already?

Just wanted to say great review! =)
Love the pictures that you added: they show useful info quickly. Quick note: in the Good/Bad section, the two collums are a little too close to each other (I read "easily the best windows issue is overstated" :P).
Oh, and I picked up a mistake: " Button had excellent tactile feel (much more so than the HTC 8X0 and travel..." instead of " Button had excellent tactile feel (much more so than the HTC 8X) and travel...".
Keep up the good work Dan!

Thanks Daniel, this is the review I've been waiting for. I was already heavily leaning towards the 920 and this pretty much cements it. I too am sure Nokia will fix the Pureview daylight issue. Cements it as long as I'm able to get a unlocked, unbranded cyan/yellow one. Or I may have to settle for an 8x if I can't becuase it is way past the time to move on from a HD7.

Daniel, did you use any of the Exchange features in the phone? or do you use an Exchange server at Mobile Nations? I run Android as my primary and my last windows phone was back on 6. I'm not very familiar with the new software. Part of my job though is recommending phones for employees at our company. Exchange support is a big part of that recommendation. We use Exchange and Active Directory to push policies to phones. I would love it if you could weigh in on it.

Haven't been able to play with WP8 yet, but I can say that WP8 will be the "Blackberry Replacement of Choice" for a lot of larger companies and many smaller ones due to it's tight integration with both On-Prem and hosted Exchange (office 365 integration is great). Here's a whitepaper that should help: http://kurtsh.com/2012/11/09/whitepaper-windows-phone-8-0-exchange-activ...

Hi there. I've synced it to my Exchange server. When you add an Exchange account, it actually warns you that "Adding an Exchange account will allow a network administrator to remotely clear the contents and the settings of your phone".
There is also an option in the Settings menu to add a corporate account that allows remote sideloading of apps, encrypting storage, disabling SD card (if any), and remotely clearing contents and settings.
I don't know the details, but it seems to me like a pretty solid MDM integration right there.

Yes, Android and iOS have similar warnings. The remote abilities are very handy, especially being able to side-loading and/or uninstall applications. I'm looking forward to someone picking up one of these so I can test all these features.

Weight and size are WAAAAY over stated in other reviews. It is a NON-Issue, PERIOD.
Lack of camera features like ability to adjust megapixels, and spot focus are almost inexcusable at this point, as is the lack of sharpness before adjusting. But considering the quality of the camera overall I can forgive them one more time. Far ahead of the pathetic Lumia 900 camera. Also can't take closeups without going in to close up mode, which other cameras are much better at.
5 years ago, I was able to use the FREE Bing app for WinPho 6.5 and speak the words "Navigate to: Contact Name". 5 years later, I still can't do that on any Windows Phone. As someone that drives around to customers houses quite a bit, I am stunned at the lack of integration with the Phone's contacts.
Where is the list of the last 6 contacts that I have been in touch with? This seems to have changed from WinPho 7.5. That was like a kick on the stomach for me. Maybe not for others.
Those are my only complaints at the moment. Phone gets a 9 out of 10 from me otherwise. And ATT gave me $75 for my Lumia 900 which was huge, and then they did not have the free charging plate at the store so they knocked another $50 off the price of the phone.

So I went to AT&T yesterday to finally check this phone out... Had been interested in the lumia line since 800/900 days, luckily my upgrade didn't kick in until just after wp8 was announced so I didn't get burned there.

I'm really sorry to say that the reviews on other sites were spot on: This phone is amazing, and way too big. It's not even just a weight thing, it's the size, the screen, etc. Totally unwieldy. I was really disappointed when I actually held it in my hand and tried to use it... I'm a girl with relatively large hands and I had trouble one handing it. I can't imagine any of my friends being interested in something that big.

The 820 sitting right next to it, on the other hand? Perfect size. But I know I'd be losing so much with the screen etc. really torn right now don't know what to do.

4.5 - 4.7 is exactly what I want but I do believe Nokia should have made a premium smaller phone as well. They will probably have one before long. Though even with the 820 missing some premium features I don't think there is a better <= 4" phone on the market. You could always try the 920 for a week or two to see how it works for you.

Just hate it that the equalizer doesn't work on Bluetooth music streaming like on my Galaxy S2 and the iPhones. So disappointed with my 920 on that area but I think its a Windows Phone restriction though.

Your equalisation should be done on the outputting device, not the source.
For eg. I stream in the car, and I adjust the equalisation on the cars system.
(Otherwise you'd have an equalisation software layer in front of Bluetooth, as the current equalisation is done on the output stage / hardware for the headphone socket. You wouldn't want to do that in software. Think about it)
Do your equalisation on the output device.

Danial,
I don't see many of the apps that I had installed on my WP 7.5 available in the marketplace of my WP8. For example 6 Weeks training, Reinstaller. Are they not compatible for WP8? Why I don't see them?
Thanks,
Jignesh

Anyone figure out how to reinstall your paid apps. Example, bought WP Central app on my Focus. Now on my Lumia, i downloaded it and it is that free version with ads (boo!). It doesn't recognize that i've bought it already. All my accounts are the same. Looking in the forums next, web search doesn't come up with anything.

That's strange. Me, I have downloaded several paid apps (games mostly) and they were recognized as purchased. Perhaps you tapped 'try' instead of 'buy'? You just need to hit 'buy' and the store will tell that you've already got it and ask if you'd like to download it.

Also, is it now possible when listening to a song to tap on the timeline and move the song forward?

and have they fixed the annoying moving cursor you get when you tap and hold while typing a message? At the moment the cursor just moves like it has mind of its own .. hope they have made it a bit more smoother now so that it moves in the direction of your finger and where your finger is at the moment. trying to get the cursor inbetween the letters of a word is just a nightmare.

What I've always wanted, but never got, was to be able to tap the music player on top of the screen [when you bring it down from the homescreen using the volume rocker] and it opens the Music Hub. :( wouldn't it be cool if you want to change the song you're listening to; you tap the music player; it opens the music hub and you're done. [ahh.. wishful-hopeful]

Thank you for the well thought out review, Daniel! Appreciate it!
Tech Question time... does your AT&T 920 have pentaband support for use on T-mobile and WIND? Kinda like the Dev versions and initial Rogers release? Just trying to figure out if we can expect all 920 units to have pentaband support or it it's more an anomaly than the norm.
Thanks!

My 920 keeps trying to download Nokia music. I get an error code 8103010 d. It won't download and actually locked my phone up!!! It is trying to update Nokia music and I don't have it installed!! Wtf??

Wow! At least at night, the camera is amazing! It was between this and the 8S (for the size) but the camera may have just sold this for me! Hopefully an update improves the daylight performance just like Nokia did for the 900.

Thanks for the comprehensive review. How is the phones call clarity, one of my biggest gripes these days is that the earpiece call quality is lacking, too quiet, distorted at higher volumes, or unless you put your ear exactly in the right spot hard to hear. Also the mike pickup on my current phone (OG EVO 4G), picks up other sounds and makes it a hard to hear my voice by the other person sometimes. thanks.

Oh do I understand you... Thankfully, the call quality is great. On my Lumia 710, I've often been unable to hear anything over traffic and stuff. Here? I've never cranked the call volume to more than 7/10. On 10/10, I actually felt deafened a bit by how loud it was.

hey , i need a quick answer :P somebody help
when nokia releases the new firmware update to fix the camera issue , will i be available for every country or only some selected ones ???? :O need an answer , and is there a difference between the US version and the international version ??

hey everyone.
I got the 920 yestarday and i have to say i love it.
I wanted some opinions:
Do you think it needs a screen protector?
or a full body case to protect the camera?
att rep says the screen scratches very easily but i think he was full of crap to be honest.

Just as anything else with a Gorilla Glass. So, in short, no. Just keep it away from diamonds and make sure there's no sand (quartz) in your pocket before you shove it in. :)

As for the full body case, it remains to be seen. But I'd say that for the camera the situation is about the same as with the screen. The phone body itself is considerably softer and it will, of course, scratch much easier than glass. However, with polycarbonate this won't be much of a problem as all the scratches will be the exact same color as the body. So they'll be mostly invisible to a casual observer.

Can't believe that, while you did a beautiful job walking through all the major points of the display, forgot to get into the reason why it is even called puremotion: the faster refresh rate which minimizes blur during scrolling. Maybe you can add this.
Also, maybe I missed it, but it would be good to mention the screen resolution and aspect ratio of 15:9 (/5:3/16:10) and how it compares to other screens which are 16:9. (As tall as 8X screen, but wider = More vertical space in horizontal. As wide as Ativ S screen, but not as tall = Same vertical space in horizontal).
Apart from that, nice, balanced and realistic review.

I didn't mention it on purpose because I think it's more marketing than anything substantial. Basically, I didn't even notice it. Plus it's not new on smartphones as the iPhone has had it for awhile now...

I visited an AT&T store today, just to see the 920 in the flesh and inform myself on this "size issue." After handling the 920, I honestly couldn't tell what all the flap was about. The weight difference, compared to the feel of the iPhone 4S/5, was unnoticeable to me. In terms of size and dimensions, the overall package seemed very svelte and well proportioned given the fact that it has a large screen.

Yea I don't know what the reviews are talking about when it comes to weight. I'm coming from a Samsung Epic to the 920, I don't know what the weight of the Epic was but the 920 feels lighter and when I drop it into my pocket I barely know its there.
I think when it came to the reviewers they see this large phone and so in their head they see it as a heavy phone, that whole mind over matter thing.

Yea size is definitely overrated went to att to play around with it and fell in love again can't wait till Monday I even bought a candy shell case while there kinda nice even though employees didn't know much about it too busy selling old people IPhones, and the display was horrible it was hidden in the corner and no 8x where there looked like a dumper display

This phone was just not ready for release, they would have done better to just implement the WP 7.8 update and released WP8 when the the OS,hardware and the apps presented a more mature experience! Also a monkey with a flashlight and a note pad could've done a better job of promoting and launching wp8.

I was so happy with my Lumia 920, sadly I had to return it the next day after I bought it. The reason I returned it is because the EQ that I had so wished for so much does not work when streaming music over bluetooth. I was very sad that it only works with headphones or a aux cable. I have a new f 150 with Microsoft Sync and the Sony sound system. My Galaxy S2 sounds very good with an EQ app through bluetooth. The Lumia 920 sounded super flat, haven't heard anything as flat as that...

As someone else on another thread pointed out - you really should be doing the equalizing on the head unit anyway not before the audio is streamed via bluetooth. Equalization should be done on the last device where sound is emitted from.

I agree about the screen. I loved the AMOLED on my 800 and was disappointed to see the "grey" black on the 920's screen. And I have the horrible vibration noise. Overall the phone is awesome, but there are some subtle things on my 800 I miss already. But no phone is perfect I guess.

It's weird, for months now I've been wanting a920, but after going to ATT today, I was really impressed with the 820. It has a nice size and feel to it, and I loved the oled screen compared to the LCD screen of the 920. I'm kinda torn now...oh and the 920 really didn't seem too heavy at all. My biggest gripes I guess was missing the deep blacks on the 920 and because of the size and design, the corners of the 920 kept digging into my palm as I was trying to hold it. I guess if I decide to get it, I'll have to find a comfortable way to hold it.

Daniel, I don't understand why you take pot shots at another great WP device (Windows Phone 8X from HTC).... It seems you should really be interested in the ENTIRE WP platform succeeding, regardless of manufacurer. Knock the One X, or GSIII, or basically any other phone on the market for having the loud speaker on the back... Why choose to knock the other premier Windows Phone currently on the market. (You also knocked the camera button on the 8X).
Look... I get it. Nokia is completely locked in to the WP world, and the Lumia hardware is completely sexy. HTC is kinda treating WP like the hot girl who may be interesting if their girl friend keeps treating them the like $#!*... But it seems to me that you should be happy that there are multiple high end WP8 options (and highlight the strengths of all- including the ATIV S) rather than produce straight Nokia fanboy material.
Maybe not... as your current audience is mostly Nokia fanboys/girls themselves. But it seems likely that your audience will shift more in the coming months- as the L920 is not available to the majority of your target, English speaking audience.
Anyways, I would buy the L920 over ANY phone on the market today, but it is not in the cards for my carrier. I agree it is the best piece of hardware on the market today. It just bothers me that this site refuses to acknowledge the existence- and quality- of the devices other OEMs are producing.

What the hell are you talking about? I really like the HTC 8X and have said publicly numerous times--just listen to the last podcast. You'll see when my review goes up but yeah, if I had to choose one it'd be the 920. That's not a potshot at the 8X it's a preference.

Am I the only one concluding that Nokia 920 is just too big?? Both my wife and I have Samsung Focus at the moment, and are looking to upgrade. I've been eagerly awaiting WP8 to arrive, what a disappointment - there is no device that fits in a pocket anymore... Every maker of WP8 has gone the way of "bigger is better". Among Nokia 920 / HTC 8X / iPhone 5 - the latter is a clear winner for my wife - thin, light, and sized for a woman. I could go with the 920 or 8X, but 920 looked too gigantic for me, and I haven't seen 8X in person yet. I would hate to go back to iPhone, after switching to WP7 two years ago, but I feel that my options are limited. So frastrating...

Nokia 820 is the first WP8 I saw - and it seemed too clunky to me.. too wide and thick. I still don't get it, why Nokia decided to supersize Lumia 800, which was a great little device, comparable in size to iPhone. As it stands now, there is no competition to iPhone from the WP8 camp. If I could install WP8 onto iPhone, I would.

Did you do side-by-side comparisons with other new wp8 devices(ativ, 8x or 820) to test the difference? If the other new wp8 devices scroll perfectly without any blurring, then fine. The PureMotion is a gimmick feature. But I wouldn't call it just "marketing gimmick" since there is research and tech behind it. I think its really a shame that Nokia puts efforts in the research and the technology in Lumia 920, and users wont even notice it. A BIG FAIL from nokia if its true :(. I think they should have left the PureMotion out to make the device cheaper.

For all the noise I heard and read about its weight, I was worried that it might really be a big and unconfortably heavy phone. BUT, I went to AT&T store and checked up close for the first time, and....I loved it. It looks and feels better in person that in picture. I just can't decide what color I want, Black, Cyan, or White!

My wife and I bought the 920, we are simply impressed with Nokia, great hardware design, awesome OS. Great weight balance, outstanding camera. We are loving the 'kids corner' & the 'family room'. Our kids are already mastering the OS...

I agree with the review, and coming fromm iOS this has been a simple and smooth transition. just about everything with the phone rocks with the exception that my battery life is horrendous. Granted I have been playing with the phone extensively, however it was fully charged before going to bed, and I wake up to 30% left. All background apps were shut down, therefore nothing should have been accessing the battery to drain. Tried Nokia's "tips for battery life" to no avail.
I do have a ATT microcell and wonder it the phone switching between a tower and the cell would cause excessive drain.
Any thoughts?

Wonder if a exchange is the only solution.
FYI - My friend had the freezing OS issue, took his back to ATT and the new phone runs perfect.

I absolutely love the Nokia Lumia 920 (black). The screen is gorgeous, the low light and video capabilties are outstanding. The huge storage capacity is appreciated, especially since there is no SD card slot (HTC...you would sell more phones if you didn't limit it to 8GB and no SD slot...just FYI...). The responsiveness is amazing, and the screen touch sensitivity is as advertised. The look is professional yet "sassy," and the build quality and feel is absolutely solid....
...but it IS very heavy for a cell phone. I had my Samsung Focus (the OG, SON!) for two years, and always appreciated the slight build and light weight of the device, along with its snappy performance (until recently, that is....it most certainly started to show its age just a little...). The discrepancy in weight is not really that bad until you start to hold the phone for long periods of time. I am a big fellow (over 6'3'', 250 lbs), and MY arm starts to hurt after a moderate session of Fruit Ninja or Infinite Flight. Now, I understand how much is actually packed into the casing (3 radio types (GSM, UTMS/HSPA+, LTE), and the Qi charging system, AND the 2000 mAh battery, AND the image stabilization platform, AND that gorgeous screen, AND...well, there's a lot. I don't see why this device has to be close to half a pound....although I think it is built like a tank, as one of the blogs noted, and it should last the ravages of time very well....
That's my only beef with it folks...well that, and Microsoft....COME ON MAN!!! Give us custom sounds for emails, SMS, and voicemail....bloody 'ell, sahs! Also for Microsoft...how can you NOT have a Skype app ready to rock with the phone's launch?!?!?! COME ON MAN!

I just got the 920. I guess I am the only one who likes the camera? I like pictures that mainly look like real life and as it stands now the pictures I have taken so far match what I see with my eyes. Colors are almost exact.

I don't care about the weight, but the phone is a brick! It's just too bulky for me. I need to carry it around the entire day in my pocket. Unfortunately no company is able to keep up with Apple in the field of form factor. Especially for WP: If you're into smaller phones with screens around 3.7" to 4" you have to go for the mid-range phones which have a lower screen resolution that are just slightly better than my one year old L800. There is no WP which can keep up with the iPhone in this form factor range. I understand that there are people who want these new features of the L920. However, there are also a lot of people who don't care about the PureView technique or Wireless charging.

sh1bb - I have the black and I noticed all 3 of my buttons had a yellowish tint to them. I don't think its the light thats yellowish as when they're not glowing, they appear almost gold/bronze/copper in color.

Overall, I think my biggest complaint is the photo performance in daylight. I noticed that pictures were coming out "softer" and not as sharp as my samsung focus. When using touch to focus, the shot would look almost always look sharp but as soon as the shot was taken, you could see it get noticably softer.

I have had one unexplained reset. Within about 2hrs of activation, it rebooted itself while streaming music. The phone also froze up when playing with the nokia panorama app (the phone was effectively MIA for about 10 minutes before it sorted itself out).

I do have a minor issue with "Nokia Drive" which is still in beta. Whenever I "Stop Navigating", I'll continue to hear occasional beeps. At first, I couldn't determine the origin of these "beeps" (was it an app? was it some notification?). However, towards the end of the weekend, I noticed they only occured after using the app and turning off the navigation. Even then, the turn-by-turn navigation experience is a huge step forward. It was nice before, but now it looks and feels like a full fledged gps.

Other minor quirps. I don't like the volume button being on the same side as the power and camera buttons. The button layout was perfect on the Samsung Focus as it was on the left. Being left handed, I've become accustomed to adjusting the volume with my thumb and locking/unlocking with my index finger.

The Data Sense application isn't here as well. Apparently, this will be a Verizon exclusive (for now?). AT&T's app, when configured with your account, will show data useage - but I would have preferred to use a "Native" application.

Can any 920 users tell me if the volume issue has been fixed in WP8? If you owned a WP7 device like the 900 then you're well aware that having the volume set at 1 is like having the volume set at 50 when compared another phone. This is really annoying, I often have to put the phone on vibrate because I can't stand the loudness.

I feel like i need to re-iterate this a bit... This phone is absolutely the best phone in direct sunlight. Been using it for 2 days, I cant put it down! This phone + WP8 feels like I jumped ahead 10 years after using my 1st gen Focus.

Picked up a red 920. All I can say is WOW. Was on a plane back from Denver and another passenger caught a glimpse of the phone and was like, "OMG, Windows Phone 8, thats a sexy phone." He then waived his phone in the air. WP, also. Hehe. I'm still playing with my new toy, but I'm so very pleased to be an early adopter of the platform. I couldn't imagine much of an improvement over WP7 less little things here and there. But I am amazed. Seriously, go to a store and play with a device. Additionally, I checked out a Samsung ATIV tablet and WOW the UI is so fast!! Need to check out a MS store now.

As much as I would like for Wp8 to be successful, it is not on the same level as the iPhones. The screen size is the only advantage for the new Wp8, and that's only if you prefer a larger screen. The camera deficiencies, immature OS, lack of apps, along with the weight makes Wp8 esp. the L920 a tier below the iPhones and Galaxies of the world.

The camera definciencis can and will be addressed with software updates, but as long as the hardware is in place - it can be tweaked accordingly. The general consensus does not seem to be complaining about the hardware - just quirks that need to be ironed out.
What do you use regularly on iOS / Android that you cannot do in WP? Can you check your email? Play games? Text Message? Browse the web? Take pictures? What is lacking? NFC? Oh wait, iPhone doesnt have that yet.
There are specific apps that people miss, but it does not mean that there are not alternatives. This is relative as well.
Weight is relative. iPhone5 is too light. Lumia 920 is too heavy. Galaxy S3 feels like a cheap toy.
At least there are options for people to choose from, that is the best feature of all.

First,let's stop with the too light argument. Nobody leaves a phone at home because it's too light. Everything about Nokia and Wp8 has been underwhelming, from the launch to the camera, to the missing apps that were displayed during the wp8 launch. Don't bother to mention NFC,because it won't be relevant until Apple comes onboard anyway. You asked what I use regularly on the iPhone,the next time you're in a at&t store pick up an iPhone and a galaxy Slll and see how easy it is to purchase an HD movie. Then pick up your outdated L920 and do same thing, and don't tell me you need to buy an Xbox console to stream movies. Also,saving an email video attachment on Wp8 is unheard of. The ringtones suck,need to download 3rd party app to get rid of ridiculous volume bar from music player,no screen orientation lock,unwelcome text notifications' can't be disabled,while hardware is good it takes more than that to make a great phone.

A lot of people are having some major battery issues, myself included. Battery is down to 90% in a matter of minutes, which is ridiculous. Some of them have manged to fix it by draining their batteries and full charging them. I'm not happy about it at all, if my battery doesn't improve within the next few days, this will be my last Nokia phone.

I got mine a week ago and have to say there is no comparison. This is the best phone (any OS) I have owned. The weight problem is a pure fantasy, it is lighter than half the iPhones my students carry due to their cases but more substantial and able to take a drop than those other phones. I loved my Samsung F

I know I'm late to the article so this probably won't get acknowledged.

Can you compare the daylight photo to a dslr shooting in raw mode?
Raw mode typically looks "washed out" to people but is the most accurate representation of reality.

It seems Nokia went the route of what dslrs do and limited the on camera auto processing. Then you "ripped" them for it. I'd be highly disappointed if the Nokia daylight pictures turned out to be equal to raw photo sharpness and saturation. Then through a firmware update that was changed.

If Nokia does end up changing it, I'd hope they'd add an option to turn jpg processing off (on by default for the majority of course).

Photosynth on Windows Phone 8? Really? I searched for that and couldn't find it on the MS Store app for the Lumia 920. WPCentral must have some good contacts to have that app in the screenshot.
Battery life is okay. As soon as you use NFC and leave it on all day, it drains pretty quick. I use a microcell at home, and it seems to drain the battery as well.
I can't comment on the wireless charging docks as I pre-ordered two of them when I ordered my Lumia 920 and I haven't received them yet. I did get my phone on 11/13/2012 so I'm not complaining.

Didn't see this mentioned, but, did Nokia fix the utterly horrible vibration that was on the 900? Also, I had never gone over my data-limit until I had WP 7.5 (I guess that it was the live tiles when I was on the road and out of wifi) and was wondering if it was a setting I missed or what.
I'm currently on a Note 2 and while I love the phone itself, I really loathe Android. Kinda missing WP.
Thanks all!